Ivory Coast president announces French troops' departure in January

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00:00French troops stationed in Abidjan are spending their last few days in Ivory Coast's largest

00:05city.

00:06Nearly 1,000 soldiers are currently deployed at the 43rd Infantry Marine Battalion fighting

00:12jihadists in the Sahel region.

00:15On Tuesday, the Ivorian president announced they would be withdrawing from the country.

00:20We've decided on the coordinated and organized withdrawal of French forces from Ivory Coast.

00:30Thus the camp of the 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion in Koboué will be handed over to

00:37the armed forces of Ivory Coast starting in January 2025."

00:47At the same time, Senegal's president has officially set an expiry date for the presence

00:52of French soldiers in his country.

00:55I have instructed the minister for the armed forces to propose a new doctrine for cooperation

01:02in defence and security involving the end of all the foreign military presences in Senegal

01:08from 2025.

01:11They are just the latest of several former French colonies in West Africa to demand the

01:16withdrawal of French troops.

01:18France decided to reconfigure its military presence on the continent after being ousted

01:23from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

01:26On the 28th of November, Chad, France's last foothold in the Sahel, also suspended its

01:32military agreement with Paris.

01:34The fire military base was handed over to the Chadian authorities on the 26th of December.

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